Design of the Case Studies: Procedure and Content

The Informal Learning at School for Active Citizenship (INFCIV) project addressed informal learning for citizenship in schools. In order to meet the complexity of this issue, a broad conceptual framework was developed, including relevant characteristics of the school context, examples of critical incidents of relevant learning experiences and a characterization of outcomes in the sense of competences relevant to active citizenship. Outcomes were not assessed in the study, although some informal explorations were conducted in some countries (see subsequent sections). Yet, outcomes were included in the conceptual framework (Chapter 2), as we needed some clarification on the kind of outcomes that one might expect as relevant dimensions of active citizenship, in order to delineate more clearly what might be considered as relevant informal learning experiences.